Gazprom Neft completes the sale of the first Emission Reduction Units (ERUs) under the Kyoto Protocol

18 may 2011, press release

Gazprom Neft announces that it has become the first Russian oil company to complete the sale of Emission Reduction Units (ERUs) in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol. The volume of the deal was 295,000 ERUs, which were purchased at a price set by current market conditions. The purchaser of the ERUs is a large energy company.

The purchaser was chosen as a result of a tender organised by Mitsubishi Corporation, Gazprom Neft’s Japanese partner in the joint implementation project (JIP) at the Ety-Purovsk field, which is being developed under the Kyoto Protocol. Gazprom Neft's second Japanese partner in the JIP, JX Nippon Oil & Energy, ensured the Kyoto Protocol’s methodology was fully adopted at the Ety-Purovsk deposit.

Sberbank of Russia participated in the sale of Gazprom Neft's ERUs, which followed their transfer from the Russian register of carbon units to the Japanese national register of carbon units. The sold ERUs were received during the implementation of the JIP between August to December 2009. Under the JIP at the Ety-Purovsk deposit Gazprom Neft could receive about 3.1 million ERUs (each unit corresponds to one tonne of CO2).

"Projects utilising associated petroleum gas reduce volumes of APG to be burnt as well as emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere. Operating under the Kyoto Protocol through the sale of ERUs reduces the level of human impact on the environment, and also improves the economic performance and effectiveness of APG utilisation projects. Gazprom Neft will continue to look for new opportunities within the scope of the Kyoto Protocol", commented Alexander Dyukov, Gazprom Neft's Chairman of the Management Board.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

During the implementation of the JIP a 70 km pipeline was constructed from the Ety-Purovsk deposit. This allowed the APG obtained at the deposit to be sent for utilisation to SIBUR’s Vyngayakhinsk Compressor Station. Gazprom Neft was responsible for the construction of facilities, their operation and technical maintenance. The experience of working with Mitsubishi Corporation and JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation provided a successful operation fully compliant with the Kyoto Protocol.